Delhivery turns unicorn after Softbank’s USD 350 Mn investment

With this funding, Delhivery has entered the unicorn club. Its valuation shot up to USD 1.6 billion from about USD 634 million in the previous funding, according to media reports.

Mar 6, 2019 by The Passage Team

Source: Delhivery

After receiving the nod from Competition Commission of India (CCI) last week to pick up a 22.44% stake in Delhivery, Masayoshi Son-led Japanese conglomerate Softbank has pumped in USD 350 million in the Gurugram-based logistic startup.

With this funding, Delhivery has entered the unicorn club. Its valuation shot up to USD 1.6 billion from about USD 634 million in the previous funding, according to media reports.

As per filings with India’s ministry of corporate affairs, Delhivery issued 1.23 million Series F compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares (CCCPS) each at a premium of Rs. 20,063 to Softbank for USD 350 million and 158,831 Series-F CCCPS to Carlyle Group (at the same premium per share) for USD 45 million, reported Financial Express.

While Softbank has invested in the company through its Cayman Islands-registered entity SVF Doorbell (Cayman), Carlyle Group has put in money through its Mauritius-based special purpose vehicle CA Swift Investments. Softbank and Carlyle Group will now hold 23.41% and 12.39% stakes respectively in the company, said media reports citing Paper.vc.

The talks for a proposed USD 250 million in funding from Softbank Vision Group began in October 2018 amidst rumours about the logistic company looking for an IPO. Three months later, Delhivery bought the India business of Dubai-based logistics firm Aramex for an undisclosed amount.

Founded by Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua, Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati and Suraj Saharan in 2011, the eight-year old company services about 1,700 cities and more than 14,000 pin codes in India. It competes with players such ECom Express and Rivigo, among others.

So far, Delhivery claims to have delivered 340 million orders to more than 50 million households across India. It has 19 warehouses capable of automatic sorting and 30 fulfilment centres, as per the company's website. It also reportedly runs a fleet of more than 14,000 vehicles and employs about 21,000 people.

India had over 900 logistics startups in November 2018, which raised over USD 1.4 billion in funding across 115 deals between 2014 and 2018, as per Inc42’s State of The Indian Startup Ecosystem 2018 Report.

India's e-commerce marketplace is set to grow to USD 1.2 trillion by 2021 from the current USD 200 billion, stated Deloitte in a recent report. Growing on the back of it is the logistics industry, which is poised to touch USD 215 billion in the next two years, according to India’s economic survey report 2017-18.

The Passage Team

The Passage is committed to creating in-depth content over technology industry across Asia with a focus on emerging startups in the technology, healthcare, education, food, tech, travel & mobility segments.